Saturday, 17 October 2015

“Happiness is a
thing to be practiced, like the violin.” - John LubbockHenryk Wieniawski (Henryk
also spelled Henri - born July 10, 1835, Lublin, Pol., Russian Empire [now in
Poland]—died March 31, 1880, Moscow, Russia), was a Polish violinist and
composer, one of the most celebrated violinists of the 19th century.Wieniawski was a
child prodigy who entered the Paris Conservatory at age 8 and graduated from
there with the first prize in violin at the unprecedented age of 11. He became
a concert violinist at age 13 and began touring Europe with his brother Joseph,
a pianist. His wide-ranging concert tours brought him international fame. In
1860 he was appointed violin soloist to the tsar of Russia, and from 1862 to
1869 he taught at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1872–74 he toured the
United States, playing with the pianist Anton Rubinstein, and he subsequently
taught for a time at the Brussels Conservatory.As a violinist
Wieniawski was admired for his rich, warm tone, glowing temperament, and
perfect technique. His own compositions for violin are Romantic in style and
were intended to display his virtuosity. He composed two violin concerti, one
in F-sharp Minor (Opus 14) and a quite popular one in D Minor (Opus 22). His
other compositions include ‘Le Carnaval Russe’ (Opus 11), ‘Legende’ (Opus 17), ‘Scherzo-Tarantelle’
(Opus 16), and études, mazurkas, and polonaises.The Violin Concerto
No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22 may have been started in 1856, but the first
performance did not take place until November 27, 1862, when the composer
played it in St. Petersburg with Anton Rubinstein conducting. It was published
in 1879, inscribed to his dear friend Pablo de Sarasate.The work is in
three movements:

Allegro moderato
in D minor/F major

Romance: Andante
non troppo in B flat major

Allegro con
fuoco – Allegro moderato (à la Zingara) in D minor/D majorBoth main
elements of the first movement, its sombre, restless first subject, and its
lyrical pendant (begun by a solo horn) are discussed freely and subject to
dazzling embellishments by the solo violin. This movement includes a demanding
variety of technique, including chromatic glissandi, double stops, arpeggios,
sixths, octaves, thirds, chromatic scales, and artificial harmonics, not to
mention a myriad of bowing techniques. The beat is based on a 4/4 or common
time.The first movement
uses a half-sonata form where the orchestral coda after the exposition
transitions into the second movement instead of a development section. The slow
movement, a Romance, follows without a break. It is based on a lilting tune in
12/8 time and rises to an impassioned central climax. A rhapsodic passage
marked Allegro con fuoco and mainly a solo cadenza, leads to the finale, a
dashing rondo in the gypsy style, which quotes the first movement’s subsidiary
theme in the course of its second and third episodes. The final movement
implements a 2/4 time, which allows the violinists to emphasise certain notes
in the beginning of some measures.Wieniawski's
second Violin Concerto remains one of the greatest violin concertos of the
Romantic era, memorable for its lush and moving melodies and harmonies. Here it
is played by soloist Ye Eun Choi at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Conductor:
Christoph Eschenbach, in concert with the SHMF Orchestra.

Friday, 16 October 2015

“The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.” - Harriet Ann JacobsWe are getting some good Spring weather at the moment and it’s a pleasure to see all the wonderful, fresh, Spring vegetables at the greengrocers. It’s a perfect time to make this soup!Spring Vegetable SoupIngredients for Soup2 tablespoons olive oil1 leek, white parts and heart, sliced thinly2 Spring onions, finely chopped1 large carrot, dicedsalt to tastefreshly ground pepper1 teaspoon tomato paste2 cloves garlic, minced1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped10 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock1 cup white cannellini beans (boiled until almost cooked)2 tomatoes, peeled and grated1 cup zucchini, diced1 bunch of asparagus spears, use only the tender tops, snapped off and chopped4 artichoke hearts (with leaves and choke removed), choppedFor the Basil pesto1 and 1/2 cup torn basil leaves¼ cup Parmesan cheese¼ cup olive oil2 garlic cloves, minced1 heaped tablespoon pine nutssalt and pepper to tasteMethod for the soupIn a large pot, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add leek, Spring onion, carrot, salt and pepper and stir frequently until softened - 5-7 minutes.Add tomato paste and garlic, stirring for one minute until paste is well mixed with other ingredients.Add the stock, beans, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down heat to medium high and cook for 10 minutes, keeping it at a low boil.Add the tomatoes, asparagus, artichokes and zucchini. Cook until tender - approximately 10 minutes.Serve immediately with the pesto on the side, to be added as desired.For the PestoCombine basil and pine nuts in food processor, pulsing a few times to mix well.Add garlic and cheese, pulsing a few more times. Slowly drizzle the olive oil in while continuing to pulse until it forms the proper consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.Please add your favourite recipe below, using the Linky tool.

Thursday, 15 October 2015

“Perhaps the
courtyard will be knee-deep in sunlight and pigeons” - Nâzim HikmetNâzim Hikmet
(1902-1963) is one of the most important figures in 20th century Turkish
literature and one of the first Turkish poets to use free verse. He became
during his lifetime the best-known Turkish poet in the West, and his works were
translated into several languages. However, in his home country, Hikmet was
condemned for his commitment to leftist ideals, and he remained a controversial
figure decades after his death. His writings were filled with social criticism
and he was the only major writer to speak out against the Armenian massacres in
1915 and 1922. Hikmet proclaimed in the early 1930s that, “the artist is the
engineer of the human soul”. He spent some 17 years in prisons and called
poetry “the bloodiest of the arts.” His poem ‘Some Advice to Those Who Will Serve Time in Prison’ reflected his
will to survive.“To think of
roses and gardens inside is bad,

to think of seas
and mountains is good.

Read and write
without rest,

and I also
advise weaving

and making
mirrors.”

(from ‘Some
Advice’, 1949)Hikmet was born
in Salonica in Greece and but grew up in Istanbul. His mother was an artist,
and his pasha grandfather wrote poetry; through their circle of friends Hikmet
was introduced to poetry early; publishing first poems at seventeen. This poem of his
I am very partial to:ANGINA PECTORISIf half my heart
is here, doctor,

the other half
is in China

with the army
flowing

toward the
Yellow River.

And, every
morning, doctor,

every morning at
sunrise my heart

is shot in
Greece.

And every night,
doctor,

when the
prisoners are asleep and the infirmary is deserted,

my heart stops
at a run-down old house

in Istanbul.

And then after
ten years

ALL I HAVE TO
OFFER MY POOR PEOPLE

IS THIS APPLE IN
MY HAND, DOCTOR,

ONE RED APPLE:

MY HEART.

AND THAT,
DOCTOR, THAT IS THE REASON

FOR THIS ANGINA
PECTORIS-

NOT NICOTINE,
PRISON, OR ARTERIOSCLEROSIS.

I look at the
night through the bars,

and despite the
weight on my chest

MY HEART STILL
BEATS WITH THE MOST DISTANT STARS.Nâzim Hikmet (1948)After the
disastrous events in Greece and Turkey in 1922, the poet went to Russia,
attracted by the Communist ideals. He returned to Turkey and was imprisoned
several times on trumped up charges. He went back to Russia, returned to Turkey
and between 1929 and 1936 he published nine books (five collections and four
long poems) that revolutionised Turkish poetry, flouting Ottoman literary
conventions and introducing free verse and colloquial diction. While these
poems established him as a new major poet, he also published several plays and
novels and worked as a bookbinder, proofreader, journalist, translator, and
screenwriter to support an extended family that included his second wife, her
two children, and his widowed mother.PLEA

This country
shaped like the head of a mare

Coming full
gallop from far off Asia

To stretch into
the Mediterranean

THISCOUNTRY IS OURS.

Bloody wrists,
clenched teeth

bare feet,

Land like a
precious silk carpet

THIS HELL, THIS
PARADISE IS OURS.

Let the doors be
shut that belong to others

Let them never
open again

Do away with the
enslaving of man by man

THIS PLEA IS
OURS.

To live! Like a
tree alone and free

Like a forest in
brotherhood

THIS YEARNING IS
OURS.In January 1938
he was arrested for inciting the Turkish armed forces to revolt and sentenced
to twenty-eight years in prison on the grounds that military cadets were reading
his poems, particularly ‘The Epic of
Sheikh Bedrettin’. Published in 1936, this long poem based on a
fifteenth-century peasant rebellion against Ottoman rule was his last book to
appear in Turkey during his lifetime.In the late forties,
while still in prison, he divorced his second wife and married for a third
time. In 1949 an international committee, including Pablo Picasso, Paul
Robeson, and Jean Paul Sartre, was formed in Paris to campaign for Hikmet’s
release, and in 1950 he was awarded the World Peace Prize. The same year, he
went on an eighteen-day hunger strike, despite a recent heart attack, and when
Turkey’s first democratically elected government came to power, he was released
in a general amnesty. He managed to make his way to Moscow. During his exile
his poems were regularly printed abroad, his ‘Selected Poems’ was published in Bulgaria in 1954, and generous
translations of his work subsequently appeared there and in Greece, Germany,
Italy, and the USSR. He died of a heart attack in Moscow in June 1963.THE BLUE-EYED
GIANT, THE MINIATURE WOMAN AND THE HONEYSUCKLE

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

“The fire which enlightens is the same fire which consumes.” - Henri Frédéric Amiel
This week, Poets United has as its theme, “Fire”. Whether seen as friend or foe, fire always has to be respected as it can burn more easily than it can warm.
Bushfires in Australia are frequent events during the hot months of the year, due to Australia’s mostly hot, dry climate. Each year, such fires impact extensive areas. While they can cause property damage and loss of human life, certain native flora in Australia have evolved to rely on bushfires as a means of reproduction, and fire events are an interwoven and an essential part of the ecology of the continent. For thousands of years, Indigenous Australians have used fire to foster grasslands for hunting and to clear tracks through dense bush (see here for more details).
Major firestorms that result in severe loss of life are often named based on the day on which they occur, such as Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday. Some of the most intense, extensive and deadly bushfires commonly occur during droughts and heat waves, such as the 2009 Southern Australia heat wave, which precipitated the conditions during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in which 173 people lost their lives. Other major conflagrations include the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires, the 2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires and the 2006 December Bushfires.
Victoria has seen the majority of the deadliest and largest bushfires in Australia, most notably the 2009 Black Saturday fires, where 173 people were killed, around 2,000 homes and structures were destroyed, towns were gutted, and some, such as Marysville, were destroyed. Global warming is increasing the frequency and severity of bushfires and will lead to increased days of extreme fire danger.
Perhaps the most distressing thing about bushfires is that some of them are deliberately lit by arsonists, firebugs, demented individuals who get a thrill out of seeing the flames leap up and destroy all in their path. In Australia, we fear and respect fire as it can cause destruction and death and endless misery. Firebugs have no place amongst us…Drought and Fire

Tuesday, 13 October 2015

“Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.” - Neil ArmstrongOne of the most ancient and important among the festivals observed by the Greeks was that of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which was celebrated in honour of Demeter and Persephone. The name was derived from Eleusis, a town in Attica, where the Mysteries were first introduced by the goddess herself. They were divided into the Greater and Lesser Mysteries, and, according to the general account, were held every five years.The Greater, which were celebrated in honour of Demeter, and lasted nine days, were held in autumn; the Lesser, dedicated to Persephone (who at these festivals was affectionately called Kore, or the maiden), were held in spring. It is supposed that the secrets taught to the initiated by the priests (the expounders of the Mysteries) were moral meanings, elucidated from the myths concerning Demeter and Persephone; but the most important belief inculcated was the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. That the lessons taught were of the highest moral character is universally admitted. “The souls of those who participated in them were filled with the sweetest hopes both as to this and the future world”, and it was a common saying among the Athenians: “In the Mysteries no one is sad”.The initiation into these solemn rites (which was originally the exclusive privilege of the Athenians) was accompanied with awe-inspiring ceremonies; and secrecy was so strictly enjoined that its violation was punished by death. At the conclusion of the initiation great rejoicings took place, chariot-races, wrestling matches, poetry contests, music recitals were held, and solemn sacrifices offered. The initiation into the Lesser Mysteries served as a preparation for the Greater.The Mysteries began with the march of the mystai (initiates) in solemn procession from Athens to Eleusis. The rites that they then performed in the Telesterion, or Hall of Initiation, were and remain a secret. Something was recited, something was revealed, and acts were performed, but there is no sure evidence of what the rites actually were, though some garbled information was given by later, Christian writers who tried to condemn the Mysteries as pagan abominations.It is known, however, that neophytes were initiated in stages and that the annual process began with purification rites at what were called the Lesser Mysteries held at Agrai (Agrae) on the stream of Ilissos, outside of Athens, in the month of Anthesterion (February–March). The Greater Mysteries at Eleusis was celebrated annually in the month of Boedromion (September–October). It included a ritual bath in the sea, three days of fasting, and completion of the still-mysterious central rite. These acts completed the initiation, and the initiate was promised benefits of some kind in the afterlife.In the Hellenistic age (300-150 BCE), the cult was taken over and run by the state, and two aristocratic families from Eleusis officiated (the Eumolpidae and Kerykes). In this age, mystery cults were becoming very popular, unlike classical Greece (400s BCE) when the Eleusinian mysteries were a rare form of worship. The annual Eleusinian mysteries attracted thousands of people from all over the Greek world, and the only initial requirement to become a mystes (initiate) was to be without blood guilt nor a barbarian (in other words, if you spoke Greek). It was open to both men and women, and remarkably, slaves were also allowed into the cult.The mysteries existed from Mycenaean times (circa 1600-1200 BCE), thought to have been established in the 1500s BCE and held annually for two thousand years. The Roman emperor Theodosius closed the sanctuary in CE 392, and finally it was abandoned when Alaric, king of the Goths, invaded Greece in CE 396. This brought Christianity to the region, and all cult worship was forbidden.

Monday, 12 October 2015

“My feminism is humanism, with the weakest being those who I represent, and that includes many beings and life forms, including some men.” - Sandra CisnerosDocufiction is the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality such as it is (as direct cinema or cinéma vérité) and which simultaneously introduces unreal elements or fictional situations in narrative in order to strengthen the representation of reality using some kind of artistic expression. More precisely, it is a documentary contaminated with fictional elements, in real time, filmed when the events take place, and in which someone (the character) plays his own role in real life.A docudrama is a genre of radio and television programming, feature film, and staged theatre, which features dramatised re-enactments of actual events. On stage, it is sometimes known as documentary theatre. In the core elements of its story a docudrama strives to adhere to known historical facts, while allowing a greater or lesser degree of dramatic license in peripheral details, and where there are gaps in the historical record. Dialogue may include the actual words of real-life persons, as recorded in historical documents. Docudrama producers sometimes choose to film their reconstructed events in the actual locations in which the historical events occurred.A docudrama, in which historical fidelity is the keynote, is generally distinguished from a film merely “based on true events”, a term which implies a greater degree of dramatic license; and from the concept of “historical drama”, a broader category which may also encompass largely fictionalised action taking place in historical settings or against the backdrop of historical events. As a neologism, the term docudrama is sometimes confused with docufiction. However, unlike docufiction (which is essentially a documentary filmed in real time, incorporating some fictional elements) docudrama is filmed at a time subsequent to the events it portrays.Hybrid genres such as these raise ethical questions regarding truth, since reality may be manipulated and confused with fiction, or the converse, which may be also quite pernicious: Fiction being regarded as the historical truth.We watched the 2014 Alan Rickman movie “A Little Chaos” starring Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alan Rickman, Stanley Tucci and Steve Waddington. The scenario credits go to Jeremy Brock, Alison Deegan and Alan Rickman, and there is a disclaimer at the very beginning of the movie warning viewers that some of the events are based on historical fact… The problem is that most of the film is fiction, including the historically non-existent female lead and most of the film’s basic premise.The plot revolves around the King of France Louis XIV (who really existed) and who built an impressive palace in the Paris suburb of Versailles and surrounded it with spectacular gardens which included an outdoor ballroom (all true). Kate Winslet plays a fictional woman gardener named Sabine De Barra, who the movie shows receiving a commission to design and build the outdoor ballroom portion of the gardens at Versailles. She is working for a male landscape artist named André Le Nôtre (the actual historical royal landscaper), played by Matthias Schoenaerts.My first issue was with the ages of Louis XIV (5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715) and André Le Nôtre (12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), the King being 25 years younger than Le Nôtre. In the film this age difference is reversed, Le Nôtre being younger. The fictional Madame De Barra is the other major historical no-no, and her existence is central to the film’s plot and its mildly feminist premise. A whole range of other historical inconsistencies and historical solecisms, if you like, pepper the film. But even if we ignore all of this, the plot is thin and the film too long, the empty, pointless silences too many. More film should have been left on the cutting room floor.The sets, costumes and props were largely acceptable and the music suitably non-descript, but lacking period authenticity (to match the holes in the plot). The acting I was not overly impressed with, Winslet being too earnest while trying to make the most of her lines, while Schoenaerts looked for the most part non-plussed and uncomfortable. Rickman was rather full of himself at times but I guess one should forgive him that as he was playing Louis XIV…I would not go out of my way to see this film, but it was pleasant enough as "filmzak" (I did end up doing something else halfway through it while watching the remainder of the film). Watch it at your discretion and perhaps you will enjoy it more knowing it’s all balderdash and only amusing as a romantic comedy of a mildly feministic kind where the woman is the heroine and the men around her range from the completely incompetent to the supercilious but mindless male chauvinist pig.

Sunday, 11 October 2015

“No one is an
artist unless he carries his picture in his head before painting it, and is
sure of his method and composition.” - Claude MonetRogier van der Weyden (b.
1400, Tournai, d. 1464, Bruxelles) was a Flemish painter (French Rogier de le
Pasture) who, with the possible exception of Jan van Eyck, was the most
influential northern European artist of his time. Though most of his work was
religious, he produced secular paintings (now lost) and some sensitive
portraits.Rogier was the
son of a master cutler, and his childhood must have been spent in the
comfortable surroundings of the rising class of merchants and craftsmen. He may
even have acquired a university education, for in 1426 he was honoured by the
city as “Maistre (Master) Rogier de le Pasture” and began his painting career
only the next year at the rather advanced age of 27. It was then, on March 5,
1427, that Rogier enrolled as an apprentice in the workshop of Robert Campin,
the foremost painter in Tournai and dean of the painters’ guild.Rogier remained
in Campin’s atelier for five years, becoming an independent master of the guild
on Aug. 1, 1432. From Campin, Rogier learned the ponderous, detailed realism
that characterises his earliest paintings, and so alike, in fact, are the
styles of these two masters that connoisseurs still do not agree on the
attribution of certain works. But the theory that the entire sequence of
paintings credited to Campin (who, like Rogier, did not sign his panels) are
actually from the brush of the young Rogier cannot be maintained.Campin was not
the only source of inspiration in Rogier's art. Jan van Eyck, the great painter
from Bruges, also profoundly affected the developing artist, introducing
elegance and subtle visual refinements into the bolder, Campinesque components
of such early paintings by Rogier as “St. Luke Painting the Virgin”. Although
as an apprentice Rogier must certainly have met Jan van Eyck when the latter
visited Tournai in 1427, it was more likely in Bruges, where Rogier may have
resided between 1432 and 1435, that he became thoroughly acquainted with van
Eyck’s style.By 1435, Rogier,
now a mature master, settled in Brussels, the native city of his wife,
Elizabeth Goffaert, whom he had married in 1426. The next year he was appointed
city painter; and it was from this time that he began to use the Flemish
translation of his name (van der Weyden). Rogier remained in Brussels the rest
of his life, although he never completely severed his ties with Tournai. He was
commissioned to paint a mural (now destroyed) for the town hall of Brussels
showing famous historical examples of the administration of justice. During
this same period, around 1435-40, he completed the celebrated panel of the “Descent
from the Cross” for the chapel of the Archers’ Guild of Louvain.Devotional
qualities are even more striking in Rogier’s works of the 1440s such as the
twin Granada-Miraflores altarpieces and the Last Judgment Polyptych in Beaune,
France (Hôtel-Dieu). In these the settings are stark, the figures are delicate
Gothic types, and the action, though stilled, is exquisitely expressive. The
removal of Rogier’s art from concern with outward appearances and his return to
medieval conventions is surprising; for it was during this decade that Rogier’s
international reputation was secured and commissions increased from noblemen
such as Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and his powerful chancellor, Nicolas
Rolin. Rogier may well have also been influenced by the writings of Thomas à
Kempis, the most popular theologian of the era, whose practical mysticism, like
Rogier's painting, stressed empathetic response to episodes from the lives of
Mary, Christ, and the saints.Perhaps as an
extension of a journey to install the Last Judgment Altarpiece in Rolin’s
chapel at Beaune or possibly to obtain a plenary indulgence for his daughter
Margaret, one of Rogier’s four children, who had died that year, the renowned
painter visited Rome during the Jubilee of 1450. He was warmly received in
Italy. Praise from the Humanist Bartolomeo Fazio and the eminent theologian
Nicholas of Cusa is recorded; Rogier also received commissions from the
powerful Este family of Ferrara and the Medici of Florence. He painted a
portrait of Francesco d’Este (originally thought to be Leonello d’Este), and
his painting of the Madonna and Child that still remains in Florence (Uffizi)
bears the arms and patron saints of the Medici.While on his
pilgrimage, Rogier apparently tutored Italian masters in painting with oils, a
technique in which Flemish painters of the time were particularly adept. He
also seems to have learned a great deal from what he viewed. Although he was
primarily attracted to the conservative painters Gentile da Fabriano and Fra
Angelico, whose medievalising styles paralleled his own, Rogier was also
acquainted with more progressive trends. In the “St John Altarpiece” and the “Seven
Sacraments Triptych”, executed between 1451 and 1455, shortly after Rogier’s
return north, his characteristic austerity is tempered by his recollection of
the more robust Italian styles; and, in both, the panels are unified from a
single point of view.The last 15
years of his life brought Rogier the rewards due an internationally famous
painter and exemplary citizen. He received numerous commissions, which he
carried out with the assistance of a large workshop that included his own son
Peter and his successor as city painter, Vranck van der Stockt, a mediocre
imitator. Even before his death, however, Rogier’s impact extended far beyond
his immediate associates. The influence of his expressive but technically less
intricate style eclipsed that of both Campin and van Eyck. Every Flemish
painter of the succeeding generation - Petrus Christus, Dieric Bouts, Hugo van
der Goes, and Hans Memling (who may have studied in Rogier’s atelier) -
depended on his formulations; and, during the 16th century, Rogierian ideas
were transformed and revitalized by Quentin Massys and Bernard van Orley.Rogier’s art was
also a vehicle for transporting the Flemish style throughout Europe, and during
the second half of the 15th century his influence dominated painting in France,
Germany, and Spain. Nevertheless, the fame of Rogier van der Weyden quickly
waned, and no painting by him had been signed or dated. By the end of the 16th
century the biographer Carel van Mander had referred mistakenly to two Rogiers
in Het Schilderboek (1603; “Book of Painters”), and by the middle of the 19th
century his fame and art had all but been forgotten. Only through a meticulous
evaluation of the documents have scholars over the past century been able to
reconstruct Rogier’s work and to restore the reputation of one of 15th-century
Flanders’ leading masters.The “Descent from the Cross” (or
Deposition of Christ, or Descent of Christ from the Cross) a panel painting created
c. 1435, now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, is shown above. The crucified
Christ is lowered from the cross, his lifeless body held by Joseph of Arimathea
and Nicodemus. The c. 1435 date is estimated based on the work’s style, and
because the artist acquired wealth and renown around this time, most likely
from the prestige this work allowed him.It was painted
early in his career, shortly after he completed his apprenticeship with Robert
Campin and shows the older painter’s influence, most notable in the hard
sculpted surfaces, realistic facial features and vivid primary colours, mostly
reds, whites and blues. The work was a self-conscious attempt by van der Weyden
to create a masterpiece that would establish an international reputation. Van
der Weyden positioned Christ’s body in the T-shape of a crossbow to reflect the
commission from the Leuven guild of archers (Schutterij) for their chapel
Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-van-Ginderbuiten (Notre-Dame-hors-les-Murs).Art historians
have commented that this work was arguably the most influential Netherlandish
painting of Christ’s crucifixion, and that it was copied and adapted on a large
scale in the two centuries after its completion. The emotional impact of the
weeping mourners grieving over Christ’s body, and the subtle depiction of space
in van der Weyden’s work have generated extensive critical comments, one of the
most famous being, that of Erwin Panofsky: “It may be said that the painted
tear, a shining pearl born of the strongest emotion, epitomises that which
Italian most admired in Early Flemish painting: Pictorial brilliance and
sentiment”.

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WELCOME

Welcome to Nicholas V's Blog on Blogger

I have been blogging daily on this platform for several years now. It is surprising that I have persisted as the world is changing and "microblogging" is now the norm. I blog to amuse myself, make comment on current affairs, externalise some of my creativity, keep notes on things that interest me, learn something new and to surprise myself with things that I discover about this wonderful, and sometimes crazy, world we live in.

I sometimes get the impression that I am on a soapbox delivering a monologue, so your comments are welcome.